Saddle-type vehicle equipped with a navigation system

ABSTRACT

A GPS antenna is arranged such that it can easily receive satellite radio waves. An ATV is a saddle-type vehicle equipped with a navigation system for measuring the position of the vehicle by receiving radio waves from an artificial satellite. A meter box is mounted to a front portion of the vehicle, and a GPS unit is mounted in an upper portion of the meter box. A GPS antenna is mounted to the top of the GPS unit. A second GPS antenna is mounted to a rear fender to enable diversity reception.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to JapanesePatent Application Nos. 2002-265661 filed on Sep. 11, 2002 the entirecontents thereof are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a saddle-type vehicle equipped with anavigation system and, particularly, to a saddle-type vehicle equippedwith a navigation system, which comprises a GPS receiver suitable forreceiving data from a satellite with high sensitivity.

2. Description of Background Art

A navigation system is widely used which uses a combination of a globalpositioning system for measuring the location of a mobile station makinguse of radio waves transmitted from an artificial satellite and mapinformation to display the current location of a vehicle on a map andnavigates a user to his/her destination.

In this navigation system, care must be taken for the arrangement of asensor (GPS antenna) for receiving radio waves from an artificialsatellite in order to prevent a reception failure which occurs when thesensor is hidden behind a movable member such as the steering handle ofa vehicle or a driver. For example, Japanese Laid-open PatentApplication No. 9-95276 discloses a motorcycle equipped with a GPSantenna which is arranged before the moving locus of the handlebar in aforward direction of the vehicle.

Since the GPS antenna is arranged in front of the steering handle in theabove prior art device, radio waves coming from a forward direction infront of the steering handle are not cut off by the steering handle.However, the height of the GPS antenna is not taken into fullconsideration. For instance, in an ATV, a carrier may be placed in frontof the steering handle. Therefore, the GPS antenna is hidden behindbaggage placed on the carrier in this case.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problem ofthe prior art by providing a saddle-type vehicle equipped with anavigation system that includes a GPS receiver and takes intoconsideration the arrangement of a GPS antenna in order to prevent radiowaves from a satellite from being cut off by things other than thesteering handle.

To attain the above object, the first feature of the present inventionis the provision of a saddle-type vehicle equipped with a navigationsystem for measuring the vehicle's location by receiving radio wavesfrom an artificial satellite that includes a meter box mounted to afront portion of the body, a GPS unit mounted in an upper portion of themeter box and a GPS antenna mounted on the top of the GPS unit.

According to the first feature, since the GPS antenna is mounted on thetop of the meter box installed at a relatively high position on thevehicle so that a driver can easily see it, satellite radio waves can bereceived at a wide range.

The second feature of the present invention is that the vehicle furthercomprises a pole extending upward from a fender covering wheels and asecond GPS antenna mounted to the top of the pole so that diversityreception is made possible with the GPS antenna of the GPS unit.

According to the second feature, the diversity reception of radio wavesfrom the satellite is made possible with high sensitivity by using twoGPS antennas installed at high positions on the body.

The third feature of the present invention is that a carrier formounting baggage is provided in the front and rear of the body.According to the third feature, even when baggage is placed on thecarriers installed at the front and rear of the body and a front view istaken into consideration, the height of the baggage does not become toolarge, thereby making it possible to easily receive satellite radiowaves with the GPS antenna installed at a relatively high position ofthe body.

Further, the fourth feature of the present invention is that the abovemeter box comprises the GPS unit, an indicator for indicating positioninformation supplied from the GPS unit and a cover for covering the GPSunit and the indicator.

According to the fourth feature of the present invention, since the GPSunit and the indicator are arranged in proximity to each other andcovered with the same cover, harnesses for interconnecting the GPS unitand the indicator can be shortened, the production becomes easy and theappearance of the vehicle becomes good.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a saddle-type vehicle equipped with anavigation system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a meter box including a navigationsystem mounted to the vehicle of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the receivable range of satellite radiowaves.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described in detail hereinbelow withreference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofan ATV 1 as a vehicle equipped with a GPS receiver according to anembodiment of the present invention. ATV 1 has a seat 4 situated betweenfront wheels 2 and rear wheels 3 having balloon tires and a fuel tank 5located in front of the seat 4. A steering handle 6 and a meter box 7installed at the center of the steering handle 6, and a section in frontof the steering handle 6 is covered with a front fender 8 are providedin front of the fuel tank 5. A front carrier 9 for mounting baggage isprovided on the top of the front fender 8. On the rear wheel 3 side,there are provided a rear fender 10 and a rear carrier 11. An engine anda four wheel drive unit for transmitting the power of the engine to thefront wheels 2 and the rear wheels 3 are arranged below the seat 4.

The GPS receiver and a GPS antenna 12 for a navigation system which willbe described in detail hereinafter are installed in the meter box 7.Particularly, the GPS antenna 12 is arranged at the highest position ofthe meter box 7. That is, in ATV 1, as illustrated in the FIG. 1, themeter box 7 is situated at the highest position of the vehicle, and theGPS antenna 12 is located at the highest position of the meter box 7.This is aimed to receive satellite radio waves with high sensitivity.The meter box 7 is covered with a cover 13.

The satellite radio waves are mainly received by the GPS antenna 12installed in the meter box 7. A second GPS antenna 14 may be mounted onthe rear fender 10 or the like. This makes possible diversity receptionthat the satellite radio waves can be received better. It is recommendedto mount the second GPS antenna 14 to the distal end of a pole 14 a setin the rear fender 10 so that radio waves can be received at a higherposition. The GPS antenna 14 may be mounted to not only on the rearfender 10 but also any one of the fenders covering the four wheels.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the meter box 7 when seen fromthe front of the vehicle. In FIG. 2, the meter box 7 has frames 16 fixedto the support member 15 of the steering handle 6, and an indicator 17and a GPS unit 18 are held to the frames 16. The indicator 17 isarranged such that its screen is opposite to a driver so that he/she caneasily see it. The GPS unit 18 is arranged before the indicator 17 in aforward direction of the vehicle, and the GPS antenna 12 is situatedalmost at the same height as the upper end of the indicator 17. The GPSunit 18 calculates position information based on satellite radio wavesreceived by the GPS antenna 12 and the running distance and direction ofthe vehicle.

The indicator 17 has a display panel for displaying information on thedriving states of ATV 1 such as the speed of the vehicle and theexchange time of engine oil and information on the location of thevehicle based on satellite radio waves received by the GPS unit 18. Theposition information can be displayed together with a map.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the receivable range of satellite radiowaves. FIG. 3 is based on the assumption that baggage 19 is placed onthe front carrier 9. Ranges where satellite radio waves to be receivedby the GPS antenna 12 are cut off by the baggage 19 and the driver D aredenoted by C1 and C2, respectively. Since the GPS antenna 12 isinstalled at a high position of ATV 1 as can be understood from FIG. 1,the ranges of satellite radio waves cut off by the baggage 19 and thedriver can be narrowed, and the satellite radio waves can be receivedwell at a wide angle range (W).

Since the GPS unit 18 including the GPS antenna 12 is installed adjacentto the indicator 17, harnesses for interconnecting the GPS unit 18 andthe indicator 17 can be shortened.

Since the GPS unit 18 including the GPS antenna 12 is installed adjacentto the indicator 17, the GPS unit 18 and the indicator 17 can be coveredwith the same cover 13, thereby making it possible to prevent acomplicated front section of the vehicle that results from an increasein the number of covers.

Since the indicator is installed at a high position in ATV 1 in mostcases, high-sensitivity reception is possible with the GPS unit 18installed at a high position by arranging the GPS unit 18 and theindicator 17 adjacent to each other without making other modifications.

The present invention can be particularly advantageously applied to afour-wheeled ATV. It can be also applied to a two-wheeled orthree-wheeled saddle-type vehicle.

As obvious from the above description, according to the presentinvention, since the GPS antenna is installed at a relatively highposition of the vehicle, satellite radio waves can be received at a widerange and navigation information can be obtained with high accuracy.

According to the present invention, diversity reception is made possiblewith high sensitivity by using two GPS antennas installed at highpositions of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, even when baggage is placed oncarriers installed at the front and rear of the vehicle, as the baggagedoes not become too high when a front view is taken into consideration,satellite radio waves can be received well by the GPS antenna installedat a relatively high position of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, since the GPS unit and the indicatorare arranged in proximity to each other and are covered with the samecover, harnesses for interconnecting the GPS unit and the indicator canbe shortened, the production becomes easy and the appearance of thevehicle becomes good.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

1. A saddle-type vehicle equipped with a navigation system for measuringits own location by receiving radio waves from an artificial satellite,comprising: a meter box disposed substantially rearward and upward withrespect to a central portion of a steering handle and connected to anunderside of a steering handle by a frame having a forward end, a rearend, and a bent central porition between the forward and rear ends, therear end of the frame being connected to an underside of the meter box,the forward end of the frame being connected to the underside ofsteering handle, and the bent central portion being disposed above thesteering handle and above the forward end and the rear end of the frame;wherein a GPS unit and a GPS antenna are mounted close to the meter box,whereby the meter box, the GPS unit, and the GPS antenna are rotatablewith the steering handle.
 2. The saddle-type vehicle equipped with anavigation system according to claim 1, and further including a poleextending upward from a fender covering wheels and a second GPS antennamounted on top of the pole to enable diversity of reception with the GPSantenna in the GPS unit.
 3. The saddle-type vehicle equipped with anavigation system according to claim 1, wherein a carrier for mountingbaggage is installed at a front and a rear of the vehicle.
 4. Thesaddle-type vehicle equipped with a navigation system according to claim2, wherein a carrier for mounting baggage is installed at a front and arear of the vehicle.
 5. The saddle-type vehicle equipped with anavigation system according to claim 1, wherein the meter box comprisesthe GPS unit, an indicator for indicating position information suppliedfrom the GPS unit, and a cover for covering the GPS unit and theindicator.
 6. The saddle-type vehicle equipped with a navigation systemaccording to claim 2, wherein the meter box comprises the GPS unit, anindicator for indicating position information supplied from the GPSunit, and a cover for covering the GPS unit and the indicator.
 7. Thesaddle-type vehicle equipped with a navigation system according to claim3, wherein the meter box comprises the GPS unit, an indicator forindicating position information supplied from the GPS unit, and a coverfor covering the GPS unit and the indicator.
 8. A navigation systemadapted to be used with a saddle-type vehicle for measuring a locationof a vehicle by receiving radio waves from an artificial satellite,comprising: a meter box adapted to be attached to a steering handle by apair of L-shaped frames and a support member; a GPS unit operativelypositioned in said meter box and mounted in an upper portion of themeter box; a GPS antenna operatively mounted on the top of the GPS unit;wherein the meter box has a pair of frames fixed to a support member,wherein one length of each of the L-shaped frames extends rearwardly anddownwardly with respect to the steering handle and along a back side ofthe meter box, and a second length of each of the L-shaped framesextends forwardly and downwardly with respect to the steering handle toa point where the second lengths are fixed to the support member, thesupport member being connected to a lower front side of the steeringhandle.
 9. The navigation system according to claim 8, and furtherincluding a pole adapted to extend upwardly from a fender coveringwheels and a second GPS antenna mounted on top of the pole to enablediversity of reception with the GPS antenna in the GPS unit.
 10. Thenavigation system according to claim 8, wherein a carrier for mountingbaggage is adapted to be installed at a front and a rear of the vehicle.11. The navigation system according to claim 9, wherein a carrier formounting baggage is adapted to be installed at a front and a rear of thevehicle.
 12. The navigation system according to claim 8, wherein themeter box comprises the GPS unit, an indicator for indicating positioninformation supplied from the GPS unit, and a cover for covering the GPSunit and the indicator.
 13. The navigation system according to claim 8,wherein the support member is disposed forwardly and downwardly from acentral portion of the steering handle, and wherein ends of the supportmember are attached to the steering handle.
 14. The navigation systemaccording to claim 10, wherein the meter box comprises the GPS unit, anindicator for indicating position information supplied from the GPSunit, and a cover for covering the GPS unit and the indicator.
 15. Asaddle-type vehicle equipped with a navigation system for measuring itsown location by receiving radio waves from an artificial satellite,comprising: a meter box mounted to a front portion of the vehicle; a GPSunit mounted in an upper portion of the meter box; a GPS antenna mountedon the top of the GPS unit; a support member extending in a lateraldirection of the vehicle, the support member being attached to asteering handle in a position forwardly and downwardly thereof; a pairof L-shaped frames arranged in positions such that inside corners of theL-shaped frames are disposed above the steering handle, a forward end ofeach of the frames being attached to the support member forward of thesteering handle; and a rear end of each of the frames being fixed to anunder side of the meter box rearward of the steering handle for fixingthe meter box to the steering handle.
 16. The navigation systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the GPS unit is located forward of themeter unit in a position adjacent to an upper back side of the meterunit.
 17. The navigation system according to claim 8, wherein the GPSunit is located forward of the meter unit in a position adjacent to anupper back side of the meter unit.
 18. The navigation system accordingto claim 15, wherein the GPS unit is located forward of the meter unitin a position adjacent to an upper back side of the meter unit.
 19. Thenavigation system according to claim 1, further comprising a coverextending downwardly over the central portion of the steering handle soas to cover a top side of the meter box, the central portion of thesteering handle, and the support member.
 20. The navigation systemaccording to claim 8, further comprising a cover extending downwardlyover a central portion of the steering handle so as to cover a top sideof the meter box, the central portion of the steering handle, and thesupport member.
 21. The navigation system according to claim 15, furthercomprising a cover extending downwardly over a central portion of thesteering handle so as to cover a top side of the meter box, the centralportion of the steering handle, and the support member.